Andrew Huey | pointlessly blogging since 2001

Grave of the Fireflies

In honor of Memorial Day, I decided to watch Grave of the Fireflies. This is an animated film about two kids who lose their mother and their home in a firebombing during World War II. I’ve had this DVD sitting on my shelf for about six months. I really hadn’t been in the mood to watch it until today. It’s a very sad, elegiac film. Aside from just giving you a different perspective on WW2 that you won’t usually see, it also makes you think about pride, responsibility, perseverance, and the difference between children and adults.

There are a lot of extras on a second disc that help put everything in perspective — an overview of the movie by Roger Ebert, an interview with the director, and a historical overview. There are a few interesting comments on the movie over at IMDB, although there are also a lot of bone-headed ones.